The Best Fall Festivals to Check Out This Season in Philly
Fall is coming, so mark your calendars to celebrate, eat and explore your way through Philly.
Midtown Village Fall Festival / Photograph by J. Fusco for Visit Philadelphia
School’s back in session, pumpkin spice lattes have the audacity to be sold when it’s 90 degrees out, and fall will soon be upon us. So get your sweaters out of storage and start marking your calendars for events sure to give you all the fall feels around town.
Be sure to check back here, as things are constantly changing and being added.
And don’t despair, spooky season enthusiasts: Halloween events will be in a whole separate article later this month (and pumpkin-related festivities, which are somehow different than Halloween). Looking for Oktoberfests? Check back soon for those, too.
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Philadelphia Fringe Festival (and related events)
This annual citywide celebration of contemporary art and performance features over 1,000 events throughout the city. Whether you’re into dance, circus, comedy, avant-garde performance art, theater or music, there’s truly something for everyone — including kid-friendly shows and free stuff, too.
Leading up to — and concurrent with — Fringe is the independently produced Cannonball Festival beginning September 1st at Crane Arts’ Icebox Project Space, the Maas Building, and Christ Church Neighborhood House. See the lineup here. There’s also Free Fringe, which is exactly what it sounds like: a subset of Fringe Festival performances that are free of charge.
September 5th-29th, various locations.
Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll
West Philly restaurants and other vendors offer $1, $3, and $5 food specials for over 10 blocks of Baltimore Avenue. Plus, live music, activities, and a block party at 48th and Baltimore.
September 5th, 5-8 p.m., Baltimore Avenue from 40th to 51st streets.
Block Party at the Rail Park
Asian Arts Initiative and Friends of the Rail Park are teaming up for an afternoon of music, hands-on arts activities, food trucks, and more. The Rail Park will unveil their “Play Everywhere” installation (made with a grant from Kaboom) that will make the park more fun for all ages.
September 7th, 1-4 p.m., 1300 Noble Street.
Mushroom Festival
Kennett Square is the “mushroom capital of the world,” so of course they’re going to go all out for fungus. The two-day festival has plenty of mushroom-centric food, plus live music, kids’ activities, music, cooking demos, and more.
September 7th & 8th, 101 South Union Street, Kennett Square.
Philadelphia Honey Festival
Now in its 15th year, the Philadelphia Honey Festival brings a day of bee-centric activities to Wyck historic house. The festival has fun for all ages, with beekeeping demos and talks, food trucks, vendors, and even a guy with a beard of bees!
September 7th, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Wyck Historic House, 6026 Germantown Avenue.
Nostalgia Fest Block Party
Evil Genius Beer Company celebrates 13 years with a throwback party featuring retro vendors, games, and a DJ playing ’90s and ’00s music. The event is kid- and dog-friendly, too!
September 7th, noon-6 p.m., 1727 North Front Street.
South Wayne PorchFest
Like West Philly’s summertime event, but on the Main Line! Stroll the neighborhood for a day of free music played on the porches of south Wayne (Midland Avenue, St. Davids Road and Windermere Avenue). The streets will be closed to motor traffic, so you can enjoy nearly a mile of music (or just bring a blanket and post up somewhere, there are no rules).
September 7th, 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m., Midland Avenue, St. Davids Road and Windermere Avenue, Wayne.
Open Streets: West Walnut
For four consecutive Sundays in September, 18th Street from Locust to Chestnut streets and Walnut Street from 15th to 19th streets will be closed to vehicular traffic. From 10 a.m to 5 p.m. on those days, the streets will be open to pedestrians, along with live entertainment (think music, dance troupes, strolling performers) and a kids’ zone with free activities.
Sundays in September, 10 a.m-5 p.m., 18th Street from Locust to Chestnut streets and Walnut Street from 15th to 19th streets.
Feria del Barrio
This North Philly celebration of Latino culture dates back to 1979, and includes live music and dancing, food, arts and crafts, and much more.
September 8th, noon-4:30 p.m., North 5th Street between Huntingdon and Lehigh streets.
Chestnut Hill’s Fall for the Arts Festival / Photograph courtesy of Chestnut Hill
Chestnut Hill Fall for the Arts Festival
This festival welcomes the season with over 100 arts and craft vendors, live art demonstrations, live music, shopping, food, and fun for the family all along Germantown Avenue.
September 15th, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Germantown Avenue between Willow Grove and Rex avenues.
Mid-Autumn Festival
Chinatown hosts its annual celebration at the Friendship Gate with lion dances, a mooncake-eating contest, art activities and games, and a lantern parade at night.
September 21st, noon-7:30 p.m., 102 North 10th Street.
Philly AIDS Thrift 19th Anniversary Block Party
Everyone’s favorite donation-drop-off spot and treasure-hunting destination is turning 19 and they’re throwing a birthday bash in Queen Village. The nonprofit thrift store benefiting HIV /AIDS service organizations will celebrate in style with live music, DJ Robert Drake, carnival games, circus performers, double-dutch, a “dog-kissing booth,” a “celebrity dunk tank,” food trucks, shopping, a pie-eating contest and more merriment.
September 28th, noon-6 p.m., 710 South 5th Street.
Philly AIDS Thrift’s annual birthday block party / Photograph courtesy of Philly AIDS Thrift
Midtown Village Fall Festival
Kick off fall with shopping, food and drink, live entertainment, kids’ activities and more. Pretty straightforward as far as street fairs go, but the 13th Street restaurants’ offerings will certainly elevate your street-food experience.
September 28th, noon-8 p.m., 13th and Walnut streets and surrounding blocks (12th to Juniper streets, Chestnut to Locust streets).
Fishtown Feastivale
So … this event used to be called Fishtown FestivALE and now it’s called Fishtown Feastivale. Why does this distinction matter to anyone beyond case-sensitive robots? Well, as the event website will tell you, the new name denotes a stronger focus on local food, not just beer. So, alongside your favorite beers and cocktails (of which there will still be many), you can chow down. Plus, carnival games, a dunk tank, DJ sets, and over 50 art and retail vendors. This event is family- and dog- friendly, too.
September 28th, noon-8 p.m., Frankford Avenue from Girard to Palmer.
Mt. Airy Arts Festival
For its second year, Allens Lane Art Center hosts an afternoon of free art-making activities for all ages, plus live music, art exhibits, food trucks, and vendors.
September 28th, noon-4 p.m., Allens Lane Art Center, 601 West Allens Lane.
Upper Darby International Festival
Upper Darby calls itself “The World in One Place,” and this festival, now in its seventh year, pays homage to that with plenty of food, music, dancing, a kids’ zone and a Parade of Flags.
September 28th, 1-6 p.m., Five Points Intersection at 100 Garrett Road, Upper Darby.
Delaware River Festival
This “coast-to-coast” event brings a family-friendly fun and water-centered learning to both the Philadelphia and Camden waterfronts. You can ride the RiverLink Ferry between the two locations which will both host environmental exhibitors who will talk about preserving the watershed. Plus, there will be free kids’ activities, crafts, games, paddle-boating and more. You can also explore Independence Seaport Museum for free that day.
September 28th, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Penn’s Landing, Philadelphia and Wiggins Park, Camden, NJ.
DesignPhiladelphia
The oldest design festival of its kind in the country, DesignPhiladelphia celebrates the history, artists, and innovation that makes Philadelphia such an attraction for culture and design with over 100 open houses, exhibits, a kids’ festival, and more across two weeks. It all kicks off on October 1st with a party at Cherry Street Pier. Check out the full schedule here.
October 1st-13th, various locations.
Out and About in MNYK
In honor of National Coming Out Day in October, Manayunk hosts a festival on Main Street and beyond. Entertainment includes live music, vendors, artists and LGBTQ+ organizations.
October 5th, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Main Street, Manayunk.
Revolutionary Germantown Festival
For over four decades, Germantown has hosted a day of family entertainment, food, music, and reenactments of the Battle of Germantown around the neighborhood’s historic sites. It’s a fun way to learn about the people who lived through and fought in the Revolution right here in Philadelphia.
October 5th, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Cliveden, 6401 Germantown Avenue.
Chinatown Night Market
Neighborhood restaurants and local food trucks converge on Chinatown for a nighttime street festival.
October 10th, 6-10 p.m., 10th and Race streets.
OURFest / Photograph by Cody Aldrich Photography
OURfest
In celebration of National Coming Out Day, Galaei is planning a weekend with a festival, resource fair and a parade commemorating the day. An acronym for “Our Uniting Resilience,” the weekend includes a parade on Saturday, October 12th, from 4 to 6 p.m. starting at 5th and Market and ending at Broad and Locust. On October 13th from noon to 7 p.m., the celebration continues with the National Coming Out Festival in the Gayborhood. With a lineup of grassroots organizations, nonprofits, artists, entertainers, food trucks, a kids’ zone, and more, this festival will spread out from 12th to 13th streets, and from Walnut to Spruce.
October 12th-13th, various locations.
Dilworth Park Maze Days
From October 18th through 27th, the Hay Maze returns to Dilworth Park’s lawn. And while the weekdays will include events like happy hours and storytime, the real party happens on Saturdays. On October 19th and 26th, Dilworth transforms into a fall festival with live music, games and activities (including pumpkin painting), and more. Plus you can shop local vendors at the Made in Philadelphia Fall Market.
October 18th-27th (festivals on October 19th and 26th), Dilworth Park, 1 South 15th Street.
Weirdo: The East Kensington Arts and Oddities Festival
Outsider art, oddness, music, food, beer, eclectic performances, stuff for kids, and more converge on this wonderfully weird street fair. Wizards, circus performers, wrestlers … and you? Why not?
October 19th, time TBA, Philadelphia Brewing Company, 2440 Frankford Avenue.
